August 18, 2004

I gots to gets me some FLAVA23.: LeBron is endorsing a sports drink made for him by Powerade. Don't forget to pick up the KING JAMES comic.
I feel ill...

posted by lilnemo to culture at 08:56 PM - 12 comments

Has there ever been a food product endorsed by an athlete that turned out okay? With the possible exception of the Baby Ruth?

posted by lilnemo at 08:57 PM on August 18, 2004

Oops, that should be endorsed/created for...

posted by lilnemo at 08:58 PM on August 18, 2004

reggie bars?

posted by goddam at 09:06 PM on August 18, 2004

Created for? I couldn't think of any besides the aforementioned. Outside the world of athletics, however, there's Arafat cheese puffs, and of course Billy Beer. So, I guess LeBron figures the Dream Team's performance isn't gonna get him on that Wheaties box, huh?

posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:07 PM on August 18, 2004

Were Reggie bars for Reggie Jackson or Reggie White? Cuz I remember seeing the minister of defense's mug on some milky way/almond joy -type concoction around Green Bay a few years ago. Just don't remember what they were called.

posted by brewdudepa at 10:09 PM on August 18, 2004

I'm assuming this will be distributed nationwide too. Were the others? If my memory serves me correctly, Flutie Flakes were only available in Buffalo, right?

posted by usfbull at 10:29 PM on August 18, 2004

Created for? and you're a yankee fan? :-) reggie jackson. it was a regional thing and they were discontinued by the time he left (i seem to remember the local bowling still selling them in the early 80s though). but they were still popular when they were around. his famous quote early in his career was "If I played in New York they'd name a candy bar after me." and, well, they did.

posted by goddam at 10:32 PM on August 18, 2004

here's the wrapper, plus a few others. the original flutie flakes were available in western NY and boston. here's a whole bunch of athlete branded food stuff (via 86) again, these all seem to be regional though.

posted by goddam at 10:44 PM on August 18, 2004

I don't know much about basketball - but I do know that the following quote after the Puerto Rico game from this article in the Guardian made me laugh and want to puke all at the same time: "This is the measure of it. A squad of 12 NBA players, including LeBron James, a $100m-a-year Nike marketing machine and 11 other stars, was played off the court by a squad captained by a 40-year-old has-been with a dodgy knee.This is another: the US captain Allan Iverson makes more from his annual shoe contract with Reebok than the entire Puerto Rican team have made in their careers. Or, again, the US team is spending the duration of the Olympics in $1,000-a-night suites in the Queen Mary. The Puerto Ricans are shacked up in the athletes' village."

posted by JJ at 03:18 AM on August 19, 2004

Has there ever been a food product endorsed by an athlete that turned out okay? With the possible exception of the Baby Ruth? Actually, the belief that the Baby Ruth bar was named after Babe Ruth may be incorrect, if you believe the Curtiss Candy Company, anyway....

posted by sixpacker at 08:47 AM on August 19, 2004

But.. but.. Gatorade!

posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:18 PM on August 19, 2004

These guys just want to be like the hip-hop empresarios that 'hustle' all over the map. Lil' Jon and his 'Crunk' juice, 50 Cent now sells Pimp Juice, etc., etc. You can't get no respect if you're just a basketball player anymore. You need a clothing line, a record label, a retail product line and a shoe deal before anyone even returns your phone calls. It's a wonder any of these guys has time to practice how to shoot.... Which makes a lot of sense after watching them play. In all seriousness though, I am getting more than a little sick of it.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:44 PM on August 19, 2004

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